A fresh paint job has the power to totally transform the look of your house in less time and for less cash than any other remodeling project. That thin skin of resin and pigment also protects your investment, shielding it from sun, wind, and rain—until the paint begins to crack and peel, that is. Then it's time to button up with a couple of new coats. Properly applied, new paint should last for a good 15 years, provided you use top-quality materials, apply them with care (and with an eye on the weather), and, most important, clean and sand every surface first. Here's what you need to know to get a first-class finish on your home's exterior.

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President Trump sits comfortably at a table with a glass of Diet Coke inches from his left arm. Looking noticeably leaner, the president has a charming grin on his face as he listens to Abraham Lincoln. Surrounding the pair are a host of other past Republican presidents: the Bushes (George H.W. and George W.), Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan.
A number of details will affect the cost of painting the exterior of your house, such as its size, accessibility and siding type. In many cases though, preparation often has the biggest impact on the bottom line.Your local exterior painting contractor will take a look at the project to determine how extensive repairs and preparation will be and if special equipment, materials or paints are needed to get the job done right.
For bigger houses or for faster work on smaller ones, rent a high-pressure spray cleaner. This device attaches to your home's water-supply system and puts out a jet of water at a pressure of about 600 pounds per square inch. It is equipped with a handheld wand tipped with a trigger-activated nozzle. The pressure is high enough to dislodge not only stubborn dirt, mildew, stains, and dried-on sea-spray salt, it's enough to remove peeling paint. In fact, if the jet nozzle is held too close to the surface it can even peel off perfectly sound paint, split open shingles, and drill a hole in siding. So follow the manufacturer's directions and wear goggles and protective clothing.
Depending on just how dirty the outside of your house is and on the house's size, there are two ways to approach this job. If you live in an average-size house, use a garden hose with a carwash brush attachment to bathe the big areas. For caked-on dirt, use a scrub brush or a sponge and a pail of warm water with a good, strong household detergent in it. Work from the top down, and rinse all areas where you scrubbed with water.
When the primer is dry, caulk all small joints (less than ¼-inch-wide) in the siding and trim. Most pros use siliconized acrylics—paint won't stick to straight silicones—but Guertin and O'Neil like the new, more expensive urethane acrylics for their greater flexibility and longevity. O'Neil stresses that it's shortsighted to skimp on caulk. "If the joint fails, you're back to square one." Guertin uses the lifetime rating as his quality guide. "I don't expect 35-year caulk will last 35 years, but it should last longer than a 15-year caulk."
President Trump sits comfortably at a table with a glass of Diet Coke inches from his left arm. Looking noticeably leaner, the president has a charming grin on his face as he listens to Abraham Lincoln. Surrounding the pair are a host of other past Republican presidents: the Bushes (George H.W. and George W.), Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan.
Every home has details that can be accentuated for amazing looking visual appeal and first impressions. The key is to not make the wrong details stand out. Entryways, windows, shutters and other details on the home can be painted to make their design noticeable. However features such as gutters, downspouts, external air conditioning systems, unevenly proportioned windows and protruding garage doors should not be completed to draw attention to them as this will provide a negative results.
As any painter will tell you, prep work is just as important -- if not more important -- than the paint application itself. If the paint on your house is chipping or peeling, it needs to be scraped and sanded smooth before applying a new finish. In most cases, you won’t need to remove all the existing paint, but scraping, sanding, patching, caulking, and priming are critical steps that take place before the start of most exterior painting jobs.